Sealing-in method and apparatus



Nov. 12, 1935.

J. F. DONOVAN El" AL SEALING-IN METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Dec. 18, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 153 I [6/ q I65 IN VEN TUBE. JUHN ED571220 VAN T/I FLL JAM L. K112 AUH,

THEIR ATTORNEY Nov. 12, 1935 J. F. DONOVAN ET AL SEALING-IN METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Dec. 18, 1931 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 i r/ w INVEN T57R52 z/bHN FDUNU WAT,

.T/I fLLIAM L. KUB A5122,

T2213 A2" TDRNE Y- Nov. 12, 1935 J. F. DONOVAN ET AL SEALING-IN METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Dec. 18. 19:51 a Sheets-She et s 77 3/5 8 75 lflllllllllllllllllirr 63 14 74 F 8 Ill llllllll [N YEN T DR. 5 Ti EH18 F. .Uazva VAN, PI JLL JAM .LKUB AUH, BY W THEIR. Ar 1' DANE Y.

Patented Nov. 12, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,021,001 I SEALING-1N METHOD AND APPARATUS New York Application December 18,1931, Serial No. 581,872

10 Claims.

Our invention relates to methods and machines for use in the manufacture of incandescent lampsand similar articles and more particularly for use in the said manufacture for seal ing the mounts into bulbs. An object of our invention is to provide a method and machine whereby the mount is sealed into the bulb without leaving any substantial waste glass or cullet.

Our method of sealing requires the use of bulbs having necks of predetermined length and the rims thereof substantially square. Our machine holds the bulb in a head, as by vacuum, and lowers into the neck thereof at the sealing position a mount comprising stem tube, leading-in wires,

exhaust tube and filament. Fires which revolve around this head are then allowed to play on the rim of the bulb neck until said neck is softened whereupon a set of jaws bend said rim over the edge of the end of the stem tube. Thecontinuing operation of the fires fuses a portion of the bulb neck and of the stem tube into the seal which is later stretched by pulling-down the bulb while the exhaust tube is still held by the head.

Other features and advantages of our method and machine will be apparent from the following description of a species thereof and from the accompanying drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the incandescent lamp sealing-in machine of our invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the heads, a portion of which is in section, which supports the lamp parts; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the bulb holding portion of the head; Fig. 5 is a sectional perspective view of the mount holding portion of the head; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the incandescent lamp in various stages of the sealing-in operation; Fig. 7 is a dis-assembled perspective view of the clutch which controls the rotation of the head; Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the bulb neck bending device; Fig. 9 is an exploded perspective view thereof;

' andFig. 10 is a perspective view of the bulb neck stretching device.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen our machine comprises principally a turret lflon which are mounted a 'number (sixteen) of heads which support the lamp parts. The turret is rotated intermittently in a counter clockwise direction in such a manner that the heads rest in each of the positions numbered one to sixteen in Fig. 2 for a short space of time. The turret is rotated or indexed by spider l I which is supported by ball bearing I2 on pedestal l3 and is, like the turret, attached to the centrally located tubular shaft l4. Of the rollers IS on pins I6 in the outer edge of the spider only one is engaged when the turret is indexed by the curved portion ll of cam l8. As each head is represented by a roller the indexing mo- 5 tion consists in advancing the roller tothe position occupied by the preceding roller. While the heads are not in motion they are held in position by the presence of the uncurved portion of cam l8 between two of the rollers. Drive shaft l9 on which the cam is mounted is operated by worm wheel 20 in mesh with a worm gear on shaft 2| which is operated by motor 22 through belt 23 and a pair of pulleys not shown. Drive shaft l9 also operates cam shaft 24 through bevel gears 25 and 26 and vertical cam shaft 21 through bevel gears 28 and 29.

The description of our machine now rouows the order of the various operations, the first of which occurs at the position designated as number one. At this position the bulb 30 is loaded either manually or mechanically into the lower part of the head shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The bulb rests neck up on collar 3| on the upper edge of sleeve32 which is slidably mounted on spindle 33. Friction insert blocks 33' which are forced against the spindle by screw 34 in split collar 35 hold the sleeve in place. The spindle is kept from turning in hollow shaft 36 by bar 31 which-connects the heads together in pairs by connectingcollars 38 of two adjacent heads. The vertical position of the spindle and consequently the bulb is fixed by roller 39 on pin 40 in collar 38 which rides on track 4|. Spring 42 which operates between the collar and washer 43 keeps the roller engaged with the track. The bulb is held in the collar by vacuum which enters from the passage 44 in the spindle through holes 35' in saidcollar.

A circular passage 45 about shaft 36 in the turret communicates with the vertical passage in the spindle through holes in both the spindle and the shaft and is connected through pipe 46 to a port (Figs. 1 and 2) in the lower half 41 of the rotary valve. The port is atthis position located below passage 48 in the upper half 49 of the rotary valve which is connected to the vacuum line through pipe 50 and valve 5|. Spring 52 forces the faces of both halves together preventing leakage.

The head after receiving the bulb is indexed 50 to position two and then to position three. At one of these positions the mount is inserted into the head as at either position the head is prepared to receive it. The mount is preferably of so-called tlpless construction and comprises the stem tube 53, the exhaust tube 54, the leading-in wires 55 and the filament 56. The exhaust tube of the mount is thrust between jaws 51 and 56 until. said tube is against pin 59 and in such a vertical position that the lateral flange or flaredout portion of the stem tube 53 is against the jaws 68. Although jaws 68 are open they are in a position to engage the stem tube. Pin 59 is attached to jaw 51 and operates in a slot in jaw 58. Jaws 51 and 56 are operated by spring 6i (Fig. and operate about pin 62 in clamping blocks 63 and 64 screwed to bracket 65. This bracket which supports all of the mount holding portion of the head is slidably mounted in bracket 66 on the upper surface of the turret and is located vertically by roller 61 on pin 68 which engages stationary cam 69. All similar rollers of each of the heads (Fig. 1) are engaged by this cam which is mounted on shaft 18 between spring 52 and collar H which allows its vertical position to be adjusted by turning wheel 12. The adjustment occurs as spindle 13 attached to wheel 12 is screwed in or out of shaft 18. The lamp parts will then be located with reference to each other as shown in section A of Fig. 6. I

The head is now indexed into position ion and by so doing lowers the mount into the bulb to the position shown in section B of Fig. 6. The vertical movement is produced by the roller 61 entering the lower part of cam 69 and is accompanied by another movement produced by said cam which closes jaws 68 and concentrically locates jaws 51 and 58. In producing these latter movements the raised portion 14 (Fig. 3) of the cam which engages roller 15 .on a pin in the end of slide 16 is terminated allowing said slide to bemoved back by spring 11. This spring is stretched between a post 18 in the slide and another post 19 in cover plate 88 which holds said slide within the ways in bracket 65. Jaws 68 are operated, like levers 82 which centralize jaws 51 and 58, by a pin (not shown) corresponding to pin 83 which moves in the diagonal slot 84 corresponding to slot 85. The jaws are also pivoted on a pin in bracket 65 like the levers which pivot on pin 86. The levers engage jaws 51 and 58 through pins 81 and have their ends supported as do both pairs of jaws by plate 88 attached to the end of bracket 65.

At position four the burners 89 and 98 are ignited and caused'torotateabout the bulb with their flames playing on the edge of the bulb neck.

The burners are mounted on opposite sides of plate 9I through rods 92 and-brackets 93 and are rotated by gear 93' through the clutch shown in Fig. 7 on the end of shaft 36 to which said plate is also attached. When the clutch is engaged as at this position, protuberance 94 of slide 95 is each of the heads of our machine are operated through gear I83 (Figs. 1 and 2) slidably mounted on shaft I4 and pinned to gear I84 which is supported through ball bearing I85 on table I86. This gear is in mesh with gear I81 on shaft I88 which is operated by vertical cam shaft 21 through sprockets ms and no and chain III. The gas mixture which leaves the burners is ignited by a pilot light (not shown) and is carried to the burners (Fig. 3) through passages in rods 92, brackets 93 and plate 9|. As the passages in the plate are directly above 5 a circular passage H2 in plate H3 which is forced against the lower surface of plate 9I by spring II4 the burners will receive the gas 'mixture during the entire revolution. The thrust of spring H4 is taken by ball bearing II5 on the lower surface of the turret. The gas mixture is conducted to each plate II3 (Figs. 1 and 2) of the heads of our machine by hoses II6 which connect to individual ports in the lower half 41 of the rotary valve. A passage H1 in the upper half 49 of the valve which receives the mixture from the air main H8 and gas main II9 through pipe I28 and valves I2I and I22 conducts the mixture to the ports.

The fires continue to play upon and rotate about the bulb while the head is indexed through positions five, six and seven, but are kept from rotating on entering. position eight. The clutch operating the fires is caused to disengage, as previously described, at this position by the strik- 25 ing of roller I8I against block I23. The fires take such a position that the jaws I24, I25 and I26 of the bulb neck bending device shown in Figs. 8 and 9 can operate between them. This device operates on the edge of the bulb neck 30 bending it over the lateral flange or flared-out portion of the stem tube as shown in section B of Fig. 6. The entire device is operated by movement of lever I21 about pin I 28 in standard I36 which moves sub-slide I31 horizontally by en- 35 gagement with said sub-slide through roller I38 on a pin in the end of said lever. With the movement of the end of said lever to the right, both slide I39 and sub-slide I31 are advanced, the

former sliding in standard I36 in which it is held 40 'by plates I48 and MI until the head of screw I42 in bracket I43 strikes the head of screw I44 in bracket I45. The sub-slide I31 then slides in the slide in which it is held by plates I46 and I41 against the pull of spring I48 which extends between a post I49 in the sub-slide and another post I58 in the slide. The sub-slide advances until screwI5I is against post I58 at which position jaw -I24 which is carried thereby and jaws I25 and I26 are against the neck of the bulb. 50 The movement of levers I52 and I53 which carry jaws I25 and I 26 about pins I54 is produced by the separate movement of the sub-slide which causes rollers I55 on pins I56 to enter the spread portion of slots I51 in plate I58 carried by the 55 sub-slide. Lever I21 is actuated by lever I59 (Figs. 1 and 2) which engages the end of rod I68 through collar I6I, spring I62 and collar I63 and which is operated about a pin in bracket I64 by the engagement of roller- I65 held thereby into the ways of cam I 66. Rod I68 is connected to said lever I21 through yoke I61 and pin I68 and the complete device is covered by a guard I69. The neck of the bulb having been bent the device returns to its former position and the head indexes on to another position.

With the indexing of the head out of position eight, the clutch control roller I8I leaves block I23 and pin I66. (Fig. 7) in collar 91 strikes lever I18 which retards the rotation of the head until 70 the clutch has engaged. When the clutch has engaged, lever I18 is swung about pin "I in the table I86 against the action of spring I12 on bolt I13 in said lever. The spring acts between the lever and bracket I14 extending from the table and swings said lever back when the head has indexed until it is against stop block I15. No other mechanism other than the fires operate upon the bulb while the head indexes through posions 9, III, II and I2 and the bulb neck is fused to the stem tube as illustrated in section D of Fig 6.

The next indexing which carries the head into and the insertion ,of pin I66 (Figs. 1 and 10) between guide plates I11 and I18 of the track. The device located at this position stretches or shapes the seal by pulling down the bulb while the exhaust tube is still held by the head as shown in section E of Fig. 6. The device is very much like the bulb neck bending device at position eight in that the bulb is gripped by jaws I19 and I80 on levers NH and I82 pivotally mounted on the slide I83 and are operated bymovement of sub-slide,

I84. The device is operated through lever I85 on pin I86 in the standard I81 which engagesthe sub-slide through roller I88 on a pin in the end of said lever. The slide advances toward the bulb along with the sub-slide until the head of screw I89 in bracket I90 on the slide is against the head of screw I9I in bracket I92 in carriage I93. The continuing movement of the sub-slide against the pull of spring I94 causes the rollers on pin I95 to enter the widely separated part of slots I96 in plate I91 attached to the sub-slide causing said levers to be turned about pins I98. The jaws I19 and I80 are attached to these levers through clamping plates I98. After the jaws have gripped the bulb neck, pin I99 in the end of lever I85 and yoke 280 strikes the end of slot ZIII in bar}!!! whereupon the carriage I93 to which the bar is attached by pin 203 is pulled down. This movement against the action of springs 204 on pillars 205 over which the carriage slides and causes the bulb to be pushed or pulled down. During this movement the bulb supporting sleeve 32 slips down on spindle 33. Rod 200' is actuated by lever 206 which is in turn actuated by the en-- gagement of a roller in its end into cam 201 on shaft 24 and actuates said rod through collar 208, collar 209 and spring 2). Lever 206 operates about pm 2 in bracket2l2 attached to the pedestal I3. This device is mounted under guard 2I3 on table I06 and returns to its former position before the head is indexed.

At position fourteen into which the head is then indexed, the presence of the raised portion 14 (Fig. 6) of cam 69 causes the jaws 60, levers 82 and jaws 51 and 58 to open. Jaws 60 and levers 82 are opened by rollers on pins 83 which are pushed into another section of slots 84- and 85 by movement of slide 16 and jaws 51 and 58 are opened by the wedge 2I4 which is moved downward by cam 2I5 on post 18 striking roller 2I6 on a pin in the end of the wedge. The wedge operates in a shallow groove in plate 88 in which it is held by screw 2I6. As the seal is still soft and the exhaust tube has been released by the jaws, this position should be used for any mechanism that may be applied to the machine for is produced locating the'filament in any particular position within the bulb.

As the head is indexed from position fourteen, through position fifteen and into position sixteen, that portion of the head which has supported the mount is raised to the same level it is found at position one previously described. This action occurs as roller 51 enters the raised portion of cam 69. At position sixteen the lamp is unloaded by an air jet (not shown) which blows the lamp out into a chute after the bulb has been released of the pull of vacum which has held it in the head. The vacuum is cut off by the port to which said head is connected in the lower half 41 of the rotary valve coming under 'a portion of the upper half 49 of said valve in which passage 48 does not exist. The lamp unloaded at this position represents the finished product of this machine which is shown in section F of Fig. 6.

During the next indexing which carries the head from position sixteen to position one, the vacuum is again applied to the head, jaws 51 and 58 are closed and the bulb holding sleeve 32 is raised to the sealing position. This latter movement is produced by the lowering and raising of spindle 33 by the reduced height of track 4| which occurs for a short distance between these positions. As the spindle lowers, sleeve- 32 strikes the head of pin 2I1 which prevents it from following the complete downward movement thereby causing it to be pushed up on the spindle into the position shown. The cam 2| 5 is now swung clockwise away' from roller 2I6 during the indexing motion by the striking of pin 2I8 thereon against an arm (not shown), thereby permitting the wedge 2I4 to be raised as the jaws 51- 58 are closed by spring 6|. This movement occurs against the action of spring 2I9 which is stretched between a post in said cam and a post in bracket 65. At a position early in the rotation of the machine when the other jaws are closed by the backward movement of slide 16 the cam is swung back against pin 220 by spring 2I9. The vacuum for holding the bulb is applied to the head as the port in the lower half of the rotary valve is again below passage 48 in the upper half of said valve.

One cycle of operation constituting one revolu tion of the machine has now been completely described.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. The method of sealing in a bulb amount comprising a flanged stem tube which consists in inserting the mount through the open neck end of said bulb until the flange of said stem is within said bulb and holding said mount in that position, fusing that portion of the bulb neck extending beyond said flange and mechanically bending said fused portion over on said flange by passing jaws laterally thereacross.

2. The method of sealing in a bulb a mount comprising a flanged stem tube which consists in inserting the mount through the open and definitely sized and shaped neck end of said bulb until the flange of said stem is within said bulb and holding said mount in that position, fusing that portion of the bulb neck extending beyond said flange and mechanically bending said fused portion over on said flange by passing jaws laterally thereacross.

3. The method of sealing in a bulb a mount comprising a flanged stem tube which consists in inserting the mount through the open neck end of a stem holder, fusing fires positioned to fuse a portion of said bulb extending beyond a portion of said stem, jaws positioned to thereafter bend said fused portion over on said stem and means for actuating said jaws.

5. An apparatus for sealing into bulbs mounts comprising stems which comprises a bulb holder,

a stem holder, fusing fires positioned to fuse a portion of said bulb extending beyond a portion of said stem, jaws positioned to thereafter bend said fused portion over on said stem, means for actuating said jaws and mechanism for thereafter gripping said bulb and pulling the same to stretch the seal thus formed and position said mount.

6. An apparatus for sealing into bulbs mounts comprising stems which comprises a vacuum bulb holder, a stem holder, fusing fires positioned to fuse a portion of said bulb extending beyond a portion of said stem. jaws positioned to thereafter bend said fused portion over on said stem and means for actuating said jaws.

'7. An apparatus for sealing a bulb onto a lamp mount comprising a bulb holder for holding the bulb in a neck-up position, a mount holder mounted above said bulb holder, means for lowering the mount holder so as to place a portion of the mount within said bulb, sealing fires positioned to fuse the bulb-neck and jaws for bend- 5 bulb and mount held therein together and mechanism for engaging the bulb and moving the same as permitted by slippage of the bulb holder on the spindle to stretch the seal. 5'

9. The method of sealing to a lamp mount a bulb which consists in inserting through the open bulb neck a portion of the mount and with said mount uppermost, fusing the bulb neck and mechanicallybending the rim thereof over onto 20 a portion of said mount by passing jaws laterally thereacross.

10. The method of sealing in a bulb a mount comprising a flanged stem tube which consists in inserting the mount through the open neck end 25 of said bulb until the flange of said stem is within said bulb and holding said mount in that position, fusing that portion of the bulb neck extending beyond said flange and mechanically bending said fused portion over on said flange by pass- 30 ing jaws laterally thereacross, and subsequently further fusing said bulb neck and flange together.

JOHN F. DONOVAN. WILLIAML. KUBACH. 5 

